My Buddy and Me
Do you remember those dolls that they marketed to boys called "My Buddy"? Here is a quick commercial I found on YouTube...
Well, I never had a "My Buddy" but my wife and family for graduation gave me my own "My Buddy". It is called a Kindle.
For all that is good and holy, I love this thing. I do not want to turn this into a Kindle commercial, rather I think what I like about it so much is that it actually will force me to read more!
I used to journal. I would hand write out my thoughts and keep them in these cool books. It was a dream to have a wall full of these journal entries like "Indian Jones". Needless to say my handwriting sucks and I am cannot sketch cool things onto the pages of these journals other than stick men on skateboards, standing oddly on uneven ground.
So I blog now. And I find I write a lot more. Additionally I am able to search this site and read the "handwriting" of the keystrokes. Blogging has enabled me to write more and the few people who read this babble hold me accountable to keep writing. It has been very good for me.
The same is true with the Kindle. I can search the notes I make on the books I read and can carry around 1500 books at a time. My Kindle library is small for the time being, but I know it will grow. Additionally, in order to justify the cost I need to read 40 books (saving around $10 a book). This monetary drive keeps me accountable to keep reading. And finally, the thing is just cool.
What I have learned about blogging and the Kindle is this: if I can find those things that nudge me to change, hold me accountable and are easy to access, my behavior and life patterns change.
So I am curious to know, what are some of the things you do or use or have that help make you a "better" person?
Well, I never had a "My Buddy" but my wife and family for graduation gave me my own "My Buddy". It is called a Kindle.
For all that is good and holy, I love this thing. I do not want to turn this into a Kindle commercial, rather I think what I like about it so much is that it actually will force me to read more!
I used to journal. I would hand write out my thoughts and keep them in these cool books. It was a dream to have a wall full of these journal entries like "Indian Jones". Needless to say my handwriting sucks and I am cannot sketch cool things onto the pages of these journals other than stick men on skateboards, standing oddly on uneven ground.
So I blog now. And I find I write a lot more. Additionally I am able to search this site and read the "handwriting" of the keystrokes. Blogging has enabled me to write more and the few people who read this babble hold me accountable to keep writing. It has been very good for me.
The same is true with the Kindle. I can search the notes I make on the books I read and can carry around 1500 books at a time. My Kindle library is small for the time being, but I know it will grow. Additionally, in order to justify the cost I need to read 40 books (saving around $10 a book). This monetary drive keeps me accountable to keep reading. And finally, the thing is just cool.
What I have learned about blogging and the Kindle is this: if I can find those things that nudge me to change, hold me accountable and are easy to access, my behavior and life patterns change.
So I am curious to know, what are some of the things you do or use or have that help make you a "better" person?
Shifting post frequency
After taking time to dissect the data that google analytics gave me over the past weeks, I decided it might be good to determine how frequent I should post to make it worth reading.
Since I do not read my own blog (although there are times where my ego temps me to do just that), I need assistance in knowing what is the preferred frequency?
Daily is my preferred method, but I post things in order to generate conversation and perhaps daily is too frequent so people cannot see what was posted as they may not check every day.
So, before I shift all this I would really appreciate input on this from anyone who actually reads this babble.
Since I do not read my own blog (although there are times where my ego temps me to do just that), I need assistance in knowing what is the preferred frequency?
Daily is my preferred method, but I post things in order to generate conversation and perhaps daily is too frequent so people cannot see what was posted as they may not check every day.
So, before I shift all this I would really appreciate input on this from anyone who actually reads this babble.
Quote
Christians are supposed not merely to endure change, nor even to profit by it, but to cause it. Harry Emerson Fosdick
What struck me about this quote is that I deeply resonate with the "Be the change you wish to see in the world" quote. Fosdick adds a layer onto this idea and reminds Christians are to actually cause change.
And as I look at my life I really wonder, each and every day, what change have I caused? Sure I might be able to say I have helped people to see alternate ways of being or thinking about Christianity, Jesus or God. But that is about the extent of what I feel I have caused.
There are several things I wish to cause to change in my immediate setting: shifting youth ministry from a single personality driven ministry to a contemplative ministry and developing a collation for young adult clergy to give not only suggestions on ways out of some of the problems we face but also committing us to doing something about them.
Both of these are big things for me. There are tons of administrative and background work. It will take a long time and will be a lot of work for me in the beginning. But in the end each of these will yield a greater good.
My problem with causing change is the change that I dream about is too big for me to dent. If only I was motivated to change the wall color in my house, I might be able to actually cause that change. These other dreams, I need help.
How do you get help for a dream?
What struck me about this quote is that I deeply resonate with the "Be the change you wish to see in the world" quote. Fosdick adds a layer onto this idea and reminds Christians are to actually cause change.
And as I look at my life I really wonder, each and every day, what change have I caused? Sure I might be able to say I have helped people to see alternate ways of being or thinking about Christianity, Jesus or God. But that is about the extent of what I feel I have caused.
There are several things I wish to cause to change in my immediate setting: shifting youth ministry from a single personality driven ministry to a contemplative ministry and developing a collation for young adult clergy to give not only suggestions on ways out of some of the problems we face but also committing us to doing something about them.
Both of these are big things for me. There are tons of administrative and background work. It will take a long time and will be a lot of work for me in the beginning. But in the end each of these will yield a greater good.
My problem with causing change is the change that I dream about is too big for me to dent. If only I was motivated to change the wall color in my house, I might be able to actually cause that change. These other dreams, I need help.
How do you get help for a dream?
Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.